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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 10, 2023 18:38:18 GMT
And his cover of Carl's "Heaven," while not top-notch, was pretty good and somewhat touching. Oh, I consider it top-notch. It's arguably Carl Wilson's best solo song. I'll go out on a limb and say that it might be Brian's best vocal of his solo career. And, the fact that it was a tribute to his late brother added significantly to the "touching" factor.
I always thought more should've been made out of this cover by Brian. Other than Beach Boys' diehards, nobody knew of the song, "Heaven", so right off the bat it would've come off as a "new" song. An emotional video could've been produced; there was enough live footage and photos out there. I'll go out on a limb again. Brian and his team wanted that elusive hit single so much. I thought "Heaven" might've been that chance. As it stands now, the recording is buried, rarely mentioned.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 10, 2023 18:52:15 GMT
If I'm not mistaken, it wasn't ever really commercially released on any wide scale. Wasn't it only released on an ESQ tribute, and maybe on Brian's website? Surprisingly passive release. You might think he'd have eventually put it on something bigger in scope, the way he did with those website-only Christmas songs on his later Christmas album.
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Post by kds on Nov 10, 2023 19:47:54 GMT
I'm just now finding out Brian covered Heaven.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 10, 2023 20:03:51 GMT
I'm just now finding out Brian covered Heaven. See, that shows how under the radar it was, that a big fan, but one who didn't come to fandom until a few years after it was released, didn't even know it existed! But really, it's not on a normal album anywhere, never was seriously released...so it's understandable. You need to check it out!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 10, 2023 20:10:03 GMT
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Post by kds on Nov 10, 2023 20:12:33 GMT
I was able to find it on Youtube, and yeah, it was definitely worth checking out.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 11, 2023 2:23:04 GMT
I'm both with and against you on the proposition. I, too, think of GV primarily as a single more than I do as a part of Smile or of Smiley Smile ... or of Pet Sounds. While I do think some of the musical segments sound at home on Pet Sounds, the hard edits between sections strike me as a jarring interruption when compared to the rest of the album's music. That is my primary hesitation for including it there. That said, it is hard not to acknowledge that adding one of the greatest singles in the history of music wouldn't have bolstered an album that's already arguably the greatest album in history. But boy-oh-boy would Smiley Smile have suffered! As somebody who is already not that big a fan of that one, I hate to think of the results of that omission. I suppose it depends on what else they'd have included to take up the space. Add "Cabinessence" and "Surf's Up" and you'd be talking! And, I think it depends on the listener, obviously. Sure, "Good Vibrations" is such a great song, how could it not be an asset and improve any album it is included on. But, knowing the backstory of "Good Vibrations" and how it relates to Pet Sounds (a little), SMiLE (a lot), and Smiley Smile (ultimately), it just doesn't feel right on Smiley Smile. And, it's not just the music aspect which has nothing to do with Smiley Smile, but it's also the vibe which makes it stick out, too. I think it's fair to say both "Good Vibrations" and Smiley Smile have a vibe and they're...different. The true Smiley Smile album would NOT include GV or H&V; they both stick out on the album. So what would we replace them with?
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 11, 2023 2:38:54 GMT
And, I think it depends on the listener, obviously. Sure, "Good Vibrations" is such a great song, how could it not be an asset and improve any album it is included on. But, knowing the backstory of "Good Vibrations" and how it relates to Pet Sounds (a little), SMiLE (a lot), and Smiley Smile (ultimately), it just doesn't feel right on Smiley Smile. And, it's not just the music aspect which has nothing to do with Smiley Smile, but it's also the vibe which makes it stick out, too. I think it's fair to say both "Good Vibrations" and Smiley Smile have a vibe and they're...different. The true Smiley Smile album would NOT include GV or H&V; they both stick out on the album. So what would we replace them with? I'd take the opportunity to note this wasn't a good album, and I'd start over. Most of the rest were inferior versions of good songs or questionable choices, in my not-shy-about-this opinion.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 11, 2023 9:38:27 GMT
And, I think it depends on the listener, obviously. Sure, "Good Vibrations" is such a great song, how could it not be an asset and improve any album it is included on. But, knowing the backstory of "Good Vibrations" and how it relates to Pet Sounds (a little), SMiLE (a lot), and Smiley Smile (ultimately), it just doesn't feel right on Smiley Smile. And, it's not just the music aspect which has nothing to do with Smiley Smile, but it's also the vibe which makes it stick out, too. I think it's fair to say both "Good Vibrations" and Smiley Smile have a vibe and they're...different. The true Smiley Smile album would NOT include GV or H&V; they both stick out on the album. So what would we replace them with? They could've opened or closed the album with "You're Welcome" and/or "Our Prayer".
Also, it's interesting that Smiley Smile was the first (and one of few) Beach Boys' albums without a cover song. How about one of those? What's the matter, buddy, you got too big...
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 11, 2023 13:03:08 GMT
Well, later that year they were performing "The Letter" and "Game of Love," and "With a Little Help From My Friends." The former wasn't released until August 1967, so that wasn't a realistic option. The other two would have been possible to have recorded, anyway.
None of them really fits Smiley Smile, though, in my opinion. At least not without rearrangement.
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Post by jk on Dec 11, 2023 12:44:58 GMT
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